Anyone referred to hospital for poor weight gain?

[Hopehope20]

Hi,

My son is 12 weeks old and was born on the 9th centile. Lost over 12% body weight in first week whilst I was EBF. Sent to hospital and told to top up with formula (I had in infection after birth so milk supply was low to non existent). I combined bed for the next 8 weeks. My son dropped to the 2nd centile so I switched solely to formula because I panicked about his weight. He now has dropped to 0.4th and we have been referred to hospital tomorrow. He does not have a huge appetite I am afraid and we work hard every day just to get around 23 oz down him.

I have no idea what to expect from the appointment tomorrow...has anyone got experience of something similar? I am already so upset and guilty that I couldn't breast feed....I thought at least switching to formula would have helped with weight gain so I am gutted that it hasn't. Feeling very sad and nervous about his appointment tomorrow.

Thank you for any advice xx

Just to add...since the initial weight loss..He has gained and never lost weight...just too slowly do is dropping centiles. He was 6lb 4 at birth and is now 9lb 12 at 12 weeks x

Hi hun, I could have written this myself about my little boy when he was born. He lost weight every single week for 3 months until anyone did anything about it.

He had undiagnosed tongue tie for 3 months. Ask them to check for it, it sounds like the same thing

My DD was 6lb 3oz at birth and was a terrible feeder. She didn't want to BF so I moved to bottles but I'd struggle to get 2oz down her at a time whilst looking enviously at parents who had babies guzzling 8oz bottles and wanting more. I regularly took her to the GP but because she seemed healthy and was urinating\pooping normally it was determined she was fine, just very petite (no idea why because me and DH aren't). She was always on the bottom centile or below. This has carried on throughout her life and she is now 20, still petite and a size 4-6 UK size, but otherwise very healthy. I hope your appointment goes well OP.

Just looked at her red book. She was 9lb 11oz at 12 weeks.

OP, don't worry about centiles, if your baby is gaining weight. And if he is gaining weight, please, please, please don't feel guilty about how you are feeding him. All you want is a baby who is thriving. It doesn't matter how. I couldn't BF any of mine, as it happens - but there is more to being a mum than being able to BF your children (mine are now 15 plus). What matters is that you are there for them at every minute when they need you, not how you feed them when they are tiny.

Tongue tie is a common one happened to my sister .

Try not to worry , the GPs always freak out with babies and feel more happy with the children’s doctors so that the baby can get checked properly when the weight isn’t going as planned. Doesn’t necessarily mean that something is wrong with the baby but the children’s doctors are the best people to advise and check .

It’s good that they are checking your baby , if I were you I’d be glad they will be checking your baby over . If I were you o would write down any worries or concerns you have about your baby , feeding and anything else , so that the doctor can have an idea of what’s been happening. Hopefully the appointment will be more reassuring for you and fingers crossed your baby will be in good hands with the children’s doctors who can iron out any little niggles if needed : )

Oh and definitely don’t feel guilty , ive spoken to lists of mothers who has had baby weight issues , it’s normalto make it personal but remember the doctors have been through this a million time with lots of babies and they aren’t blaming you , they want to help .

Ah thank you so much everyone. It's so hard not to best yourself up every step of the way.

He has been checked briefly for tongue tie before when he initially lost weight but I have often wondered if it was missed. I will get them to check again.

@CantWaitToRetire our stories are scarily similar! It is reassuring to hear that your daughter was ok...just petite. My son is so happy and perfect in every way other the his weight my instinct is that he is fine...just the niggling thoughts creep in. I have only ever known/heard of breastfed babies being this small...not formula fed. He is still in newborn clothes and I am starting to hide away because being around other babies his age who are double his size make me feel awful which I know isn't healthy.

Thank you all for your reassurance. I do need to look at tomorrow being positive and hopefully getting the help...or piece of mind that we need xx

I think some babies definitely come small! My DD was huge when born at 9lb 11oz- yes the weight yours is now! And steadily dropped and dropped over the weeks and ended up going from the 91st centile to the 7th. I had to stop breastfeeding to at around 7 weeks and felt so guilty but she still wouldn’t drink formula properly. It was a battle to get 2oz into her and it just felt like all we did was try to get her to drink milk all day. We eventually had some infant gaviscon for reflux which helped a little bit I think but she was quite a sad bear really for her first few months of life which makes me sad if I think about it. However, as soon as we started weaning things became much much better and she was and is a great eater. She is nearly 3 now and solidly on the 50th centile for both height and weight.
I think it’s great they are seeing you to check things out as I felt constantly passed from pillar to post, but ultimately if she’s happy then that’s a good thing and most likely she is just naturally petite.
I’ve got a baby son now who also is ridiculous drinking milk- it’s a mission to get him to have more than 3-4oz per go even now at 7 months but he doesn’t have the other associated problems. I guess my babies just don’t like milk!
Good luck tomorrow though, I’ll be thinking of you.

@Hopehope20 my story was is a little similar in that we struggled with breastfeeding and switched to bottles early on as I was in a complete panic wanting LO to gain weight. Initially she did but by 13 months was on the 2nd percentile having been born on the 50th. At 9 months we had a referral actually about something not related to weight gain at the time as we thought she had a dairy allergy, but they also discussed the slow weight gain too as it was a concern. They took blood tests to rule anything and all was fine. At this stage we were weaning albeit slowly she wasn't eating much (another stressful time) the dietician at the hospital recommended an non diary diet and we were on CPMA formula also.

Anyway, fast forward to nearly 17months, we are now back on the 9th percentile (eating diary) and she's eating much better, still off days but is gaining steadily. At 17 months she weighs 18.11oz and is still in 6-12 month leggings and 9-12 and 6-9 month jumpers. She's also on the 25th percentile for height so is very petite and super cute. I think when you get referred they'll take into account height as well plus head circumference and monitor all 3 for a while, I think weight on its own is very misleading. I'm sure everything will be fine and I struggle also to get milk into my little one each feed would be 1.5/2hours just taking the bottles slowly sometimes much quicker but generally I felt like I was pinned the sofa all day. Let us know how you get on xxx.

dairy

Hello - a very rare possibility so please don’t be alarmed but there could be a chance of an underlying illness. A family member had cardiac issues and these showed up as failure to thrive. It’s just worth ruling these things out. Some babies are just small. It could be nothing.

Thank you both. You have no idea how nice it is to hear similar stories. I am surrounded by friends who all had babies at similar times so only have those to compare to. I am looking forward to getting some help as we also feel like all we do is spend all day getting him to eat. Once he is full there is no way of getting him to eat more...and I obviously don't want to be forcing him to eat....so we just need help to know how to get more calories into him. We feed him every 4 hours round the clock...if he wants it sooner then we feed but to be honest he never does. He so3mtimes refuses after 4 hours too and we have to wait another hour.

It's a shame we have to feed him like this because he is a great sleeper and would sleep through but we have to wake him to feed in line with the 4 hours.

Thank you again everyone. I have been getting steadily more anxious about tomorrow all day and I feel like I can breathe for the first time after reading your lovely comments x

@Redskyandrainbows67 thank you. I agree and am prepared for the chance there is something wrong...I guess that's why I am so worried.

He has had his heart listened to each time we have seen a doctor about his weight but appreciate this wouldn't necessarily pick it up.

Will just need to wait and see

They can actually hear quite a few things just by listening to heart so that’s reassuring. But yes I would ask them - could this be something else than a feeding issue? And what tests would need to be done to discover if it was? Hopefully it’s just tongue tie!

We were readmitted for a few days to check whether there was an underlying like infection, tongue tie, allergies etc, and he was tried on a special formula which worked quickly. Still always on a low centile, advised to wean early and seen as hospital outpatients till he was 3. Now he's nearly 8, very healthy, active and eats for England if it's stuff he likes. Still small though, never got beyond 9th centile much to his annoyance.

@Hopehope20 it will be fine regarding the referral. The people we met at the hospital were so helpful and it was a relief to get some advice and support beyond what the HV can offer. In fact like another poster mentioned, when you start weaning you might find your LO ends up being a great eater, some just prefer solids, but pity my little one missed the memo 😂

In the end it will honestly work out well and instead you'll be worrying about something else. I do know what you mean on baby sizes. I've yet to encounter little ones that are as petite as DD, but she gets so much fuss at nursery, she loves it 🤣

My DS2 was on the 75th centile at birth and then followed your child down to the 0.4th, I cannot tell you how alarming that was. As you say he never enjoyed more than a couple of ounces at a time. Slept well and was never hungry. I remember it as a horrible time, all day spent just fretting about getting calories in to him. It was a longish path but eventually he was diagnosed as lactose and soya intolerant and things started going back uphill from there. Not far though, he is one of natures skinny creatures and is now heading toward six foot yet still on the 9th centile for weight! I swear if he turns sideways I lose sight of him sometimes. I think he was 14 last time I took him to the GP to go 'are you sure this thin is OK?' Healthy as an ox and sporty as anything though. Some people just come in smaller packaging I guess.

God I could have screamed at some of the other mothers at weighing in clinic every week though. You'd think their child putting on weight more than yours made them a better mother and I used to dread the round of 'how old is yours? how much does he weigh?' and the smug looks when yours was smaller than theirs. Still don't know how that works in some peoples heads.

Should say as well he was tested for all manner of really alarming things which they have to do (Failure to thrive protocols, such a lovely non upsetting name for it) but it's all routine and stuff they have to rule out rather than things they suspect so try not to be too alarmed, which is a lot easier to say with hindsight.

@MrSlant thank you for the heads up. I agree...failure to thrive is quite possibly the most gut wrenching term I could have imagined!

My little boy was born on the 25th centile, but like your little one, dropped to 0.4. We combination fed, this made no difference (in fact my little boy used to bring up nearly his whole bottle because he was so full!) so we were referred to a paediatric consultant at 9 weeks.

When your at the appointment, ask them to check your baby’s urine. Our paediatrician asked a nurse to take a sample and I got a phone the next day, saying that ds had a urine infection and there was a prescription waiting at our gp’s for me to pick up.

When we went back to the hospital for our follow up 10 days later, ds had put on over 2lbs. We were told that one of the side affects of urine infections very young children is very slow weight gain. Their body’s work so hard trying to fight the infection, it uses up all their energy. Apparently it’s often missed, as it so different to the symptoms an older child or adult suffers from.

He gained weight pretty quickly once he had his antibiotics, and was back up to his ‘line’ before too long and his weight gain evened out.

DS had to keep taking the medicine prophylactically, until he’d had a couple of tests to make sure there was no underlying cause for the infection (if there is, it’s usually something they grow out of).

Sorry for such a long post, I didn’t intend it to be Hope it helps you a little though. Good luck tomorrow

My DD was 5lb 9oz at birth. She was initially EBF but lost so much in the first 4 weeks we were referred to the hospital. They did some very un in-depth tests and just said to combination feed her. She gained a small amount each week.
She is now 6 and still very slim and very uninterested in food but quite tall! And healthy.

Just to hopefully reassure you: my DD has heart problems - they can be heard by any doc listening to her heart.

We were referred for poor weight gain by the health visitor and the hospital sent us home with no concerns. DD is still tiny at 8 months (partly due to her heart) but weaning has helped. As others have said GPs and HVs can get panicky about the percentiles.

Thank you everyone. We saw a great paediatrition. Essentially he says my boy is perfect...just small. The amount of formula he is having a day for his weight is actually fine. He has also, since Friday, put on half the amount he had previously out on in the last two weeks!

We are keeping an eye on him...He wants him weighed weekly at the moment and we are going back to see him in 4 weeks...but for now I am happy xx

Yes . Your boy is perfect and you are doing a great job . Well done x